Sunday

One of the three men choked his partner so violently that she vomited.

Another once declared, "I will be back and I'm always strapped," according to prosecutors.

And the third, in one of his bids to be released from prison early, described the domestic violence case against him as "an isolated incident that most certainly will never repeat itself."

Prosecutors disputed that characterization, noting that the defendant's criminal history "is replete with multiple offenses of violence."

The criminal histories of these men reveal their affinity for guns and a bounty of broken promises.

"My mind is clear now and I'm ready to embrace a future full of opportunities," one wrote in a 2013 letter to the judge in his case. The judge agreed to release him early, and the man showed his appreciation by violating his probation. By August 2015, he had been indicted on new gun charges.

Last week, Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein and U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman announced federal indictments against the three, calling them the first indictments yielded by a team effort to lock up domestic abusers for illegally carrying guns. All had been caught this spring with guns, ammunition or both.

Whenever new gun legislation is proposed, the gun lobby likes to point out that there are federal laws already on the books that regularly go unenforced. Federal law, for instance, prohibits anyone with prior felony convictions or misdemeanor domestic violence convictions from possessing firearms or ammunition. Running afoul of that law is punishable by as much as 10 years in prison.

The local effort announced by Glassman and Klein mirrors recent crackdowns in northern Ohio and other states. The Trace, a nonprofit news organization that covers gun-related issues, reported on the trend in March.

"If you're willing to punch your wife in the face and hit her over the head with a beer bottle, you're probably more likely to pull a firearm and shoot her or shoot the police officers who are responding to the call from the neighbor," Mike Tobin, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, told The Trace. "And there are countless examples of that."

For a local example, we need look only to last year.

On Feb. 10, 2018, Westerville police Officers Anthony Morelli and Eric Joering were shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance. The suspect, Quentin Smith, is locked up while awaiting trial. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Smith had a history of trouble with the law, mostly in Cuyahoga County. Viewed now, that history reveals a frustrating string of dropped charges and missed opportunities.

In 2005, Smith was charged with misdemeanor assault, a charge that the Cleveland Municipal Court docket indicates was domestic violence-related. A conviction would have disqualified him from possessing a firearm, but instead Smith was permitted to enter the court's diversionary program for first-time offenders. Prosecutors dismissed the case in 2007 after he successfully completed it.

The following year, Smith pulled a gun on his then-wife. He eventually pleaded guilty to burglary and domestic violence, convictions that from then on prohibited him from possessing a firearm or ammunition.

Sentenced to three years for those crimes, he also tried to sweet-talk his way into an early release.

"The Defendant has been committed to a path of self-improvement and submits that he can demonstrate his commitment to refrain from actions that would violate the peace and dignity of the community," he wrote, referring to himself in the third person.

Just three months before the Westerville officers were killed, Smith's wife told police during a domestic disturbance call that he always carried a gun that had been purchased by a friend with money that Smith provided. Officers taking that report checked Smith and his vehicle but did not find a weapon.

A few days after the homicides, federal prosecutors announced charges against Smith's friend for buying the gun.

"Had he not received the firearm from this person, who knows where we would be today," Glassman said.

Domestic abusers are master manipulators, of their victims and the legal system. If this new initiative by Glassman and Klein separates even a few of the worst of them from firearms, and from society for up to 10 years, we can call that a win.

tdecker@dispatch.com

@Theodore_Decker

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